Wedding Blog
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Putting together a timeline for the wedding day was much more challenging than I anticipated. I struggled with balancing the level of detail and the amount of cushion time to build in. I couldn’t find many examples that fit my unique situation: getting ready 1.5 hours away from ceremony site, 11AM ceremony, lunch reception, etc. I used Mrs. Penguin’s timeline as my format and then adapted it to fit our situation. I’m sharing my final timeline with the hive to provide just another example of how to lay out your wedding day timeline. You can check out past bee wedding timelines on the Weddingbee Wiki.
We gave copies of the timeline to the site coordinator, the photographer, and our parents. We also included a contact sheet that included the telephone numbers for the wedding party, parents and all the wedding vendors.
Morning for Bride & Co.
6:00 AM – 8:00 AM (Bride’s Hotel Room)
Hair Appointment for Bride and Flower Girls
Makeup Appointment for Bride, MOH, BM and Mother of Bride
8:30 AM
Bride and Co. depart hotel in limo to Napa Valley
10:15 AM
Limo arrives at Auberge du Soleil
Put on dress, photos of putting on dress and bridal details (rings, jewelry, shoes, dress, etc.)
Morning for Groom & Co.
6:15 AM – 7:00 AM
Fun Run with the Groom / Meet in front of hotel
7:00 AM – 8:30 AM
Groom and Groomsman get ready in hotel rooms
8:30 AM
Groom and Groomsman depart from hotel, pick up usher and ring bearer, drive to venue
10:30 AM
Groom & Co. arrive at Auberge du Soleil
Event Timeline
9:00 AM
Guests gather in lobby and begin boarding bus
9:15 AM
Bus departs with wedding guests from hotel to venue
10:45 - 11:00 AM
Bus arrives with wedding guests
11:00 AM
Music starts & pre-ceremony drinks are served (lemonade and iced tea)
Guests begin to be seated
11:15 AM – 11:45 AM
Wedding Ceremony
11:45 AM – 12:35 PM
Cocktail Hour for Guests
Photos on Balcony
- 10 Minutes for bride’s family
- All families together
- 10 Minutes for groom’s family
- 10 Minutes wedding party
- 20 Minutes bride & groom on Auberge grounds
The time allotted for photos was unrealistic. We ended up mingling with guests for the first half and taking group photos for the second half. We skipped the private session during cocktails and squeezed in a few moments when we snuck away from the reception.
12:35 PM
Guests asked to gather for group photo on balcony. After photo, guests are asked to be seated for lunch. Bride and groom practice dance in Cedar Room. (This never happened… we just winged it!)
12:45 PM
Grand Entrance (CD played by trio as wedding party enters)
First Dance - Songbird by Eva Cassidy (played live by trio)
Father of Bride - Welcome toast
1:00 PM
First Course Served
Father/Daughter dance - “I Loved Her First” Rascal Flatts
Second Course Served
Main Course Served
Best Man and Maid of Honor give toasts
Mother of groom toast
We didn’t go into a lot of detail for the time frame for the luncheon. Our site coordinator at Auberge du Soleil handled the flow of events and gave prompts for toasts, dances, etc. If you don’t have a good coordinator at your site you might want to consider having more detail here.
2:30 PM
DVD photo montage
Cut cake
Bride and groom give thank you toast
Dessert served
3:45 PM
Music concludes
Bride, groom and photographer leave venue in town car
3:45 – 4:00 PM
Bus & wedding guests leave venue
6:00 PM
Bride & groom go with photographer to take photos in Napa and San Francisco
8:00 PM to ??
After party at local bar near hotel
How detailed is your timeline?
Previously in the Pinot Noir Recap Series:
Part I: Rehearsal Dinner
Part II: Girls Getting Ready
Part III: Boys Getting Ready
Part IV: Final Single Moments
Part V: An Unforgettable Walk
Part VI: The Pinots say “I Do”
Part VII: Stealing a Moment Alone
Part VIII: Will You Be My Witness?
Part IX: Cocktails in the Sun
Part X: Say Cheese… Family Photos!
Part XI: Say Cheese… Wedding Party Photos!
Part XII: The Grand Entrance
Part XIII: The Pinots’ First Dance
Part XIV: A Toast to the Bride and Groom
Part XV: I Loved Her First
Part XVI: A Garden Escape
Part XVII: A Walk Down Memory Lane
Part XVIII: Cutting the Cake
Part XIX: Wrapping it All Up
Part XX: A Walk in the Vineyards
Part XXI: The Final Photo Shoot + Late Night Snack
Part XXII: Beauty in the Details
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Share this post: Keeping Time: A Daytime Wedding
That’s definitely something I still need to give a fair amount of thought! Your post will surely be helpful for other daytime wedding brides!
Thanks! I’m sure this will come in real handy when I start doing my time-line 
Probably off the point of this post, but I just listened to “I loved her first” and it made me cry! Good thing everyone else has left my office or I’d have some explaining to do. Don’t think I’d be able to get through the whole song with my dad.
Ah, thanks for this. I like the edits that give one a sense of the “reality” of the timeline!
our timeline was so sketchy coz it was hard to finalize times until near the end and i was just too worn out to be detail by then. the realtime comments you added should be quite useful for those putting theirs together!
Thanks for sharing! Your timelines will definitely be helpful as we brainstorm ours.
I don’t have a timeline.. yet! I definitely am planning on having one
OMG thank GOODNESS you posted this!! I’m an 11am bride 2 hours away too!!! I don’t know how we’re going to pull it off. Did you feel tired? Did you look tired in your photos? I’m so afraid I’m going to look like I want to crawl back under the sheets!! Love the timeline, thank you!!
Our morning schedule will mirror yours. This will definitely help. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing, Pinot! No timeline yet, but this is goig to come in handy.
A great timeline! I think the conclusion I came to with my photographer was that no details were too many when it came to the timeline… we just slopped it all in there!
Thank you! This is a great timeline, and it helps to know what was realistic and unrealistic. I can’t believe you had hair/makeup at 6am! You go girl! (I’m a horrible morning person, so I am in awe of anyone who can function before 7:30am!)
This is so useful to see a timeline. You were up so early!!
we’re having an early morning ceremony too. We’re close to our site, but we have to squeeze in rehearsal and picture taking before the actual ceremony. *bites nails*
We’re having an 11 am ceremony too so this is very helpful! Thanks for sharing!
@MightySapphire: I was actually awake at 4:30! I was so excited/nervous/anxious that I couldn’t sleep. So, I really only got about 5 hours, but I still felt great all day! I think as long as you try to get enough sleep in the days leading up to the wedding than you will be okay getting up early on wedding day. We ended up staying up and out until 1am. So I was up for over 20 hours!!
@pc999 & : @imLissy: Glad to be of help to the morning brides! It can be so hard to find good examples!
@Miss Glitter: I’m a total morning person so this wasn’t too horible for me (except for not getting too much sleep the night before). In fact, I’m up at about 5:45am most mornings.
Thank you thank you thank you! I’m a morning bride too and am working on my timeline.
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Mrs. Pinot Noir, New York/Napa Valley
Age and Occupation: 24, Health Educator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Market Researcher
Engagement Date: November 10, 2007
Wedding Date: October, 2008
Blogging Since: June 25, 2008
Venue: Auberge du Soleil
About Me: I am a Minnesota raised, NYC transplant planning a destination wedding in Napa. I'm balancing my love for the environment and my hubby-to-be's love for tradition to create our "green wedding in disguise." Our wedding will include local food and wine, antique touches and lots of love and laughter. When wedding planning isn't taking up my free time (and money) I love to read, cook, workout, watch baseball and travel! Follow along in my adventure as I attempt to plan an eco-friendly and socially responsible wedding (with eco-oblivious Mr. Pinot Noir).
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